Wednesday, 2/9 Granite

Well I am finally posting pictures of the granite countertop. It has actually been in for about a week, but I have been sick so I am now just getting around to uploading the photos. Enjoy.

Thursday, 1/13 Kitchen and Front Awning

Some more changes have been made to the kitchen and the exterior of the house. There is a new front and back door that look so much better than old ones. The back door has a large amount of windows in it and really opens up the kitchen. Also, the crown molding has been put up on the cabinets, giving them a finished look.

Also Johnny and I designed and built a front awning from cedar. I am really pleased with the look it provides for the house. It gives the house a nice architectural detail on the front of the house. It still needs to be stained a red mahogany, and then it will be done.

Thursday, 1/13 Floors

So I have finally gotten around to posting again. I have been working all day everyday on the house. Johnny and I worked all last week on the hardwood floors. First we had to rent the drum sander, which does the main sanding on the floors. That took two full days as we had to start with very rough grit sandpaper because of how bad a shape the floors were in. Once we had the large areas sanded, we rented the edge sander (there is a small area against the walls that the drum sander can't reach). The edge sander and a small vibrating hand sander were used to get the edges and corners.

While the floors were being sanded, I was also putting wood filler in the cracks between the wood pieces. There were several places that had very minor water damage and the boards had pulled apart a little. The wood filler is stain-able and pretty much disappears after the stain is applied.

I bought several different colors of stain and mixed them together to get just the color I wanted. For the next two days Parke and I stained the floors. Finally Johnny put two layers of polyurethane on the floors.

The process took a whole week and was a ton of work, but the floors look amazing now! Here are the photos. The first two photos are how the floors began, then after they were sanded, then stained, and finally after the poly was applied (You might also notice some changes to the kitchen).

Thursday, 12/9 Small Things

Today it was only Johnny and I working. We spent a lot of the day talking through plans for the next few weeks. To be honest besides for planning, we do more small jobs around the house. I spent way too long putting a ceiling fan in the master bedroom. I have no clue why it took so long to install it.

Wednesday, 12/8 Buying Things, Doors, and Priming

So today wasn't the best day I have ever had. Josh and I spent about an hour waiting at Lowes to pick up a door I had special ordered. I have no idea what took them so long to bring it up to the front, but it was pretty annoying.

Anyway, besides for that it was a pretty good day. I bought a new mailbox and installed it today, as well as found a place that had oak crown molding in stock. I picked some up, and it will be stained tomorrow (its going on top of the cabinets).

Parke spent the day cleaning up and sanding the new front and back doors. They are going to look great, a huge improvement over the old doors!

My painter spent the day priming, mostly the window trim.

It was just a day of small jobs that needed to be done.

Tuesday, 12/7 Very Busy

First, I want to say that I'm sorry that it has been so, so long since I have written a blog post. Work on the house has been very hectic and I have been putting in very long hours this past week. Therefore I am just now getting around to writing a new post.

As you can see from this photo, a lot of work has been done. The whole house has been landscaped, which makes a huge difference in how it looks. Also the front lights have been put up. The river pebbles have been put down for the parking, giving the exterior an almost finished look.

I am putting a new front and back door in (actually bought them today). Once that is done, a front awning will be built, the mailbox will be put in, a small fence will be put on the right of the house, and finally the front landing will be painted. Then the exterior of the house will be done! Here are some pictures of the exterior:

The inside of the house has changed a lot! The main difference is that the cabinets are installed and stained, though the window trim is up and the ceilings are painted as well. Johnny and I spent two very long days getting the cabinets installed. Once in place they looked great and really made it look like a kitchen. The next day was spent staining all day long (once I got the right mixtures of stain to get the color I wanted). The cabinets looked great. Today my painter put a coat of poly on them and really made them stand out.

Besides for the cabinets, I also bought my appliances. I got range and microwave that are both convection cookers as well, and a dishwasher. All three are stainless steel. I only bought them this early because I got a great deal on them.

Johnny also got the trim up for all the windows, which looks great! Here are some photos, and please note that the cabinets look way way better in person (the flash made some of them look weird):

Again I'm sorry that it has taken me so long to update this blog. But a ton of work has been done, and everything is starting to come together to form a house.

Monday, 11/29 Painting, Organizing, Cabinets

Well I am back from a great Thanksgiving break and started working some more on the house. It was Darren (my painter), Josh, and me working today. Darren put second coats on some of the ceilings, especially the closet, while Josh worked on organizing the house. We put some plastic down on the back porch and moved most of the supplies back there (things like doors). This opened up the inside of the house and gave much more room for movement. Josh then spent the afternoon cleaning up the house, especially the floor.

I also went the paid for the cabinets today. Hopefully tomorrow when we pick them up we can begin staining them and seeing what they will look like. Im excited to see the house continue to come together.

Tuesday, 11/23 Random

Tuesday was a day of random things. Since tomorrow I am heading home for Thanksgiving, not too much work was done. Most of the ceilings were painted and the more small drywall work was done. The house (inside and outside) was also cleaned up and readied for more work. The interior trim was delivered today as well. Today was a day of getting prepared for more work after Thanksgiving.

Monday, 11/22 Drywall, Deck, and Painting

Today a lot of work got done today! As you can see the shutters were finally put up and painted, and the exterior doors were given their first coat of paint. A second coat of paint was also put on the downspouts, and the rest of the trim was touched up.

Also, the back deck was finished today. Johnny and I had to put up the rest of the railing, with most of our time spent with the railing for the stairs. But we got it done and even cleaned it off afterwards. Three photos of it are shown below.

Josh and Parke did more drywall work. I am having to fix some of the things my drywall guys did, and make sure it is completely right. This is mainly just leveling out areas of the wall, which Parke and Josh are actually enjoying (to a point). Im really excited about it looking like a real house.

Friday, 11/19 Deck Railing and Drywall

On Friday Johnny and I worked on the railing of the deck and the stairs. Cutting and putting up the balusters with a 4 inch spacing (thats what code requires) takes up most of a good day. Johnny and I spent all day on the deck, at the end of the day it was getting close to done. Parke worked inside doing some small drywall work. Some walls needed some small work.

Thursday, 11/18 The Deck and Sanding Drywall

Today was the most tiring day I have had in a very long time. Johnny and I spent the entire day working on the back deck. We finished putting up the joists and then laid all the decking. It was a long process that involved moving around a large amount of 2x6's, but it looks amazing now. The difference it makes to the backyard is incredible! Tomorrow we will put up the railing and stairs, then it will be finished.

While Johnny and I worked on the deck, Parke and Josh worked on the drywall inside. Most of the house didn't need new drywall or patching, but still needed to be sanded flat. Josh and Parke did that all day long. I'm sure it was not fun work, but they were inside in the heat.

Wednesday, 11/17 More Deck and Drywall

The weather today was much much better than it was yesterday. It still wasn't warm, but at least it wasn't windy and rainy. Anyway, today much of the deck was built, specifically all the 4x4 posts were put in place and the holes filled with concrete. Once the concrete set up enough, we started on some of the joists. Tomorrow we will finish putting the joists in place and then start laying down the deck. Hopefully the entire deck will be finished on Friday!

Also, my drywall work will be finished this evening. My guys are there right now sanding and skimming the walls, so in a few hours it should be completed.

Tuesday, 11/16 Drywall, Deck, and Rain

Today was a pretty terrible day to be working outside. It was cold, rainy, and very windy pretty much all day long. But Johnny, Parke, and I spent the day starting the framework for the back deck. I'm sorry I didn't take any photos of it, but I wanted to keep my camera dry. So I will take some photos tomorrow of how the deck is going, I'm excited so far.

While we worked outside, my drywall guys continued to work inside. I finally got the gas company to come out and turn on the gas, so its nice and warm inside. The drywall should be done tomorrow!

Monday, 11/15 Drywall

Today was a pretty relaxed day for a Monday. My drywall guys were continuing their work and getting the first coat of mud up on some of the patches. They worked on that all day while I worked from home, getting ready for the week.

This week is going to focus mostly on installing the large back deck. This will take all of the week if not more to get it up, but it will look great when up. Also I will be preparing to have the hardwood floors refinished and then the kitchen cabinets stained and installed. It is going to be a busy next two weeks.

Wednesday, 11/10 Trim and Cleaning

Today my painter Darren did the first coat of the trim. It really made the house look way better. I'm really excited to see what the house will be like once the doors are painted and the shutters are up.

I did small stuff around the house for the most of the day, mostly cleaning up on the inside to get ready for the drywall guys to get started; I also went over everything that I wanted to them to do. There is drywall patching, some places that need new sheets, and areas that just need to be skimmed.

Friday, 11/12 Drywall and Deck

Today was a good day where a lot of work got done. To the right is a great photo of Johnny talking to his wife, enjoy.

In the morning Johnny and I went to Home Depot to pick up drywall materials. My drywall guys started working as soon as we got back. While they were working inside, my painter was outside putting a second coat on the trim. The exterior of the house is really starting to come together.

After the drywall materials were unloaded, Johnny and I spent the day beginning the back deck. The rest of the morning was us discussing the deck plans and figuring out how much materials we need. After that we went back to Home Depot and bought all the materials for the frame. (It was a ton of wood, and the truck could barely handle that much weight.) So to say the least we spent a good hour loading and unloading all the wood.

While we were working on the deck plans, the drywall guys hung most of the drywall. Photos below show what has been done so far. Note that this is just the rough work, a lot more has to be done before it will look good.

Thursday, 11/11 Sanding, Door Knobs, Trim

Today was apparently Veteran's Day. Somehow I had no idea. Anyway, so my painter asked the day off to spend with his family, which seemed totally fine with me. A large amount of his family was/is in the military, so it is an important holiday for him.

Parke did work, so I had him at the house sanding the walls. Many of the walls don't need any drywall work, but they have some raised areas that need to be sanded down. He spent all day sanding; I'm sure he loved me.

While he worked at the house, I went home and ordered some door knobs. I went to Home Depot first and looked at the styles before ordering some online. Door knobs are way, way too expensive. It also took too long to figure out which ones I needed. But I finally got the order in. I also spent some time adding up the dimensions for the trim and getting that ready for ordering.

Finally, I met with my designer Angela at the house and went over a few things such as what trim to use and types of door knobs.

Tuesday, 11/9 More Painting and Staples

Today the second coat of paint was sprayed onto the brick. It now looks great with very good coverage. Tomorrow the trim will get at least one coat of paint.

While my painter worked on the outside, Parke worked inside pulling more staples out of the hardwood floors. He worked on the most of the day and finished the day by mowing the yard.

The main thing that I worked on today was getting all the dimensions for baseboard and casing trim. I also put the large screws into the exterior door frames. I used eight screws for each door for security purposes. The large screws will keep the door frame from ever being knocked in. I also spent the day talking to several men about doing drywall work.

Monday, 11/8 Painting, Insulation, Staples, and Hardwoods

Today I got the first coat on the brick; it totally transformed the house. Tomorrow a second coat will be put on and it will look even better! After that the trim will be done in a nice brown color and it will look like a real house again.

Besides for the painting, a lot of other things happened at the house as well. I had insulation guys come out and put insulation in both the attic and the crawl space. I was amazed that the price difference between hiring them and doing it myself was very small.

While they did that, Parke spent the day pulling staples out of the hardwood floors. Josh has done some of this before, but there are hundreds of small staples throughout the house. Parke will most likely being doing more of the same thing tomorrow. Johnny was also working with the hardwood floors, replacing pieces that have been too badly damaged to repair. The main area he put in pieces was where the wall between the kitchen and living room had been.

The day was very busy for me, I was talking with the painter and the insulation guys as well as running to Home Depot. I also drove down to the Cool Springs area and went to Cox Interiors, where I believe I found the interior trim I will be using.

Friday, 10/5 Shopping and Shower

On Friday I was hopping to get started on painting the exterior of the house, but there was light rain and fairly heavy winds. So the painting was postponed until Monday. I actually went down to Atlanta to visit my sister, and spent the morning and early afternoon shopping there. I found a kitchen faucet and a large amount of lights (both interior and exterior) for a very discounted price. While I was in Atlanta, Johnny was working at the house. He spent the day in the bathroom working on the shower. He installed the copper for the new faucet as well as an alcove for the shampoo bottles to go in. The shower head that is shown in the picture is not the one that will be in there when the house is completed, it is the old head.